Poliomyelitis : Cameroon Gains “Polio-Free” Certification

It has been a long wait, but Cameron's high expectations have been crowned with good news. Early in the evening of yesterday June 17, 2020 the country was declared a “polio-free” zone, during the 25th annual convention of the African Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (ARCC). This year's edition of the meeting, held via videoconference, started on June 15th and will end today June 18th. Cameron's new polio status was made public in a post on Twitter by Cameroon's Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, who congratulated the team that worked on obtaining this certification.
Discussions during this 25th session of the ARCC come-together are taking place at the Country Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Yaounde, where members of the Cameroon National Certification Committee have held closed-door discussions with ARCC members, via videoconferencing. 
In a 40-minute presentation, Professor Tetanye Ekoe of the National Certification Committee detailed out the country’s actions to eradicate polio. He revealed that the last polio case was reported in the country in July 2014. It came from a baby boy whose parents arrived Cameroon from the Central African Republic. Investigations were carried out, eradication measures executed and a surveillance method put in place.  It was also revealed that between May and June 2019, four cases of the vaccine-derived Poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were detected in the Far North Region (one in the Mada Health District and three others at a tourist site in Kousseri). In this case also, another intensive vaccination campaign and preventive measures were implemented in the locality. Making allusion to the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic, Professor Tetanye Ekoe, in his presentation, highlighted that the Government of Cameroon has developed a national directives manual for vaccination and surveillance of VPDs adapted to the Covid-19 context, involving thorough investigation of all confirmed cases of cVDPV2 in the health districts of Kousséri, Betare-Oya, Bertoua, Garoua-Boulaï and Bangue. Also cVDPV2 risk analysis and preparation of response scenarios have been put in place, pending the lifting of restrictions r...